Michael Jackson’s mother thanks Ohio State band for its Jackson tribute halftime show

The band did a tribute to the late Jackson and then followed it up with a Hollywood themed halftime show complete with a T-Rex from Jurassic Park. Jackson's mother, Katherine, contacted the band's director, Jon Waters, on October 24 to say thanks for doing the tribute to her son.

“She was very gracious (and) wanted me to thank the band members and said that on several occasions,” Waters said. “She was very impressed by the performance of the band and extended the congratulations and thanks of the whole family for our performance.”

The band has also made morning and late-night talk shows, which seems to be our current era's stamp that a video has officially made it "viral." The two videos have received over a combined 16 million views on YouTube.

“This has given us global outreach and that is a wonderful opportunity for us and our university and for our great students,” Waters told The Lantern. “(If) that inspires some fifth grade or some fourth (grade) kid to say to his or her mom, ‘Hey, I’d like to play in the band someday,’ then we’ve done our job. We’ve inspired the next generation of musicians and I think that’s a great thing.”